Women's Crew

Varsity 8 Places 4th at NEWMAC Championship

Apr 21, 2013

WORCESTER, Mass.--For the third straight year, Wellesley's Varsity Eight captured the NEWMAC Rowing Championship on Lake Quinsigamond. The Blue edged out second place WPI in collecting their fourth overall crown at the 2013 league championship on Sunday morning.

Wellesley, who posted a time of 6:46.60, was just over two seconds ahead of the Engineers (6:48.80). Smith turned in a third place finish with a time of 6:54.60 with Coast Guard (7:00.74) and Simmons (7:04.30) close behind. Mount Holyoke (7:09.10) and Clark (7:36.20) rounded out the field.

In the Varsity 8 race, the Bears implemented their race plan from the very first stroke and very quick off the starting line. They moved off of Mount Holyoke by the 500 meter mark, but lost contact with Wellesely by the 1,000 meter mark and continued to battle Simmons the remainder of the race.

"I was really proud of how the girls raced today – our goal was to close the gap between CGA and Simmons, who had previously beaten us early in the season, and we were able to do that - pulling ahead of them by four seconds," said head coach Jen Meuse. "Next weekend will be tough as we face #1 ranked Williams, so it was important for us today, to prove to ourselves that we are getting faster."

The Blue laid claim to the Florence Jope Smith Cup, given annually to the team with the most overall points during the four championship events The Blue also rode to victory in the Novice Eight with a time of 7:15.90 while the Bears were second in 7:31.45.

In the Novice 8 race, Coast Guard took command of the field off the start and led by one boat length after the first 500 meters. I halting misstroke within the second 500 cost the Bears the lead heading into the 1,000 meter mark. The crew recovered well and held onto second place for the rest of the race.

"This was a fantastic race for the novice eight. Just their third race of the season, they executed a strong start, demonstrating clean blade work and a dynamic push," said assistant coach Jodi Hope. "What I am really proud of though, is how quickly this group is able to respond to coaching instruction and make tactical changes to improve the speed of their hull. These athletes really own their experience and take every opportunity to learn and get faster. "

WPI, who had never won a race in the 21-year history of the NEWMAC Championships, tasted victory twice in 10 minutes on Sunday, winning the Third Varsity Eight (7:10.00) and Second Varsity Eight (6:55.36) en route to a program-best second place performance in the Smith Cup.

The Florence Smith Cup is awarded to the school with the highest number of points from today's overall results. Scoring is calculated using a point system on the fact that there are a total of seven schools in today's competition
(Point totals: Seven-boat races: 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2; Six-boat races: 12, 10, 8, 6 4, 2; Five-boat races: 10, 8, 6, 4, 2)

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